


Before the Storm

by kikibug13



Category: The Covenant (2006)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Relationships, Background Slash, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-22 01:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikibug13/pseuds/kikibug13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's ten days before Chase's Ascension and Caleb is having trouble with the fact.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [grim_lupine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grim_lupine/gifts).



> Now I want to write a lot, a _lot_ more in this AU. I hope you enjoy, and merry holidays!
> 
> And many thanks to my beta!

It was July 4, and a heat wave had hit New England like the hammer of an angry god. 

All right, maybe not as bad as it would have been in Arizona, but it was still too damn hot, and it made Caleb cranky. Or maybe it wasn't the heat at all, but the fact that in only ten days, one of them was going to Ascend, and that wasn't _him_. It wasn't a Danvers. 

No, for the first time in generations, the first one of the Families to Ascend was going to be a Putnam. One of the banished family, the one that was supposed to have been destroyed, except that it hadn't, quite. 

That wasn't a surprise. Caleb had lived his life knowing that there were five families surviving, rather than four - unlike his father, and his father before that. But, somehow, some of the expectation that he should have been older was still there. Not so much from his own father - the last fight with Chase's had taken a lot out of him. Almost like an overdose, far over the threshold where he could rein it back. 

He had done the right thing, getting the woman pregnant with Pope's child (not a widow, because they weren't married, but as good as) to Ipswich, so that the boy could be cared for when his father had given up on him. Which was a good deed, and Caleb knew that. 

He'd still lost his father, almost completely, before he'd even been born. His mother, too, albeit in a different way. It had taken a few years for William Danvers III to age enough to be seen as a monster. For his absence in their lives to boil down to the hiss of life support and a wrinkled, barely-alive creature in front of a mantle. And maybe two years after that for Evelyn Danvers to take to drinking to the point of her young son becoming almost as much a shared responsibility among the Families as Chase himself. 

Days like today, Caleb wondered what it would have been like if his dad hadn't found Chase's. Whether he would have a good family like Pogue's, whether him being the oldest would make him a different person. 

He knew it was unfair. Unjust. It was in no way Chase's fault, neither for what their fathers had done to each other nor for being born sooner. But... he couldn't help it. Usually, Pogue or Reid would do something to take his mind off it, or Tyler would say something sweet enough to dispel it all. And he and Chase would be back to being inseparable, the best friends that Pogue bridged over with the youngest two, and all would be well. Not today. 

Or maybe it was just that, whatever powers Chase got, for the months until September, he would have the absolute edge in the competition that they'd been running against each other since they'd been, what, nine? Harder faster stronger better. They were all five of them competitive, but Chase and Caleb took it to a different level. What else would you call it when the State final for two years in a row of high-school swimming came down to the two of them?

And now, the game would change. Everything would change.

Change, in Caleb's life, hadn't led to improvements.

Pogue had caught his mood earlier. 

"You okay?"

"What? Yeah, just. Hot."

The blond had snorted. 

"You don't scowl at Chase or try to pick fights because it's _hot_ , Caleb."

Which Reid overheard, and snickered. "But it sorta is. Hot, I mean."

"Shut up," Pogue laughed, and Caleb rolled his eyes. Chase flushed, but that might have been because the wind picked up, making the air still hotter. Which was not fair.

"Know what?" Reid tapped the side of his chin, in that mock-thoughtful way that had all of them bracing for the coming trouble. "I'm going to bring down the tension in the room by taking Tyler and Chase to the party I was invited to, and you, my dark friend," he poked at Caleb, "are not invited."

"Oh, that's just not fair, Reid," Pogue's eyes widened in mock shock. "You can't do that."

"No, not just that. You're staying here to keep him company. Mostly because he'd chew on any of the rest of us if we try."

"And he won't 'chew' on me?"

"Come on. Be serious."

"Not if you're around."

"Fair enough. Come on, boys. Let's paint the town!"

"Some town."

"I didn't say _which_ town, did I?"

"Hey. No drunk driving back from Boston."

"Would I do that, Pogue, darlin'?"

"...yep."

Tyler snickered. "Don't worry, we'll get home safe."

Caleb mirrored the look Pogue gave Chase, Reid, and then Tyler himself. "How's the youngest of you the most responsible?"

"You wound me, Caleb." Chase's voice was quiet, the first he'd spoken since the last put-down Caleb had given him earlier, but there was a smile in his voice, and the faint guilt that Pogue's comment had born eased back down. Despite his earlier irritability, Caleb smiled back. Maybe Reid had a good thing with that idea, after all.

The two of them stayed kind of quiet, over the course of the evening. Dinner with Pogue's parents, then flooped on the couch in front of the A/C to watch movies. Not even enough energy for pool, all of it leeched by the heat and his bad mood.

Just before Caleb started stirring so they could go watch the fireworks, Pogue looked at him, those too-wise hazel eyes steady on his. "You all right?"

It made Caleb's throat tighten, and, for a moment, he only could nod. "Hot. And... it's starting." 

"Hmm?"

"In ten days."

"...oh. You worried?"

"Yeah. It's... neither mine nor his dad did very well with it."

Pogue winced. "It'll be all right."

"I hope so."

"You all right with _him_?" 

Too much to hope that Pogue would have forgotten about it. Then again, there were reasons why he could be their rock of calm and safety, without being too serious. Somehow, he managed to ground all four of the rest of them, and it was... something. He had no words to shape it with, even. Caleb sighed. "I just. Don't know what it means. I don't think any of your fathers know, either. He's an unknown, and the fact that he's Ascending first..."

"Come on. After all this time, you can't _not_ trust him."

"I do! It's just..."

"Complicated."

"Yeah."

Pogue wrapped an arm around his waist, tugging him outside and towards the bike. "Come on. Gotta have some faith, all right?"

"I'll try." And he was smiling again, so maybe it would work.

The other three made it back just before it all started, and Chase had an odd expression on his face. Enough that he pulled Caleb aside as soon as they said hi and the obligatory joke about early parties being kids' parties got out of the way.

"Caleb, did you know that Reid..." Chase seemed to have trouble putting it into words. 

"... what did he do now?"

"... Uh. I think he's been sleeping with both Pogue and Tyler. Separately."

"Since they were about thirteen, yeah."

"... you _knew_?"

"Kind of? I've never talked with any of them about it, but it seemed likely, considering that--" He clamped on the remark. There were things that he didn't think any of them - either generation - had told Chase, yet. Caleb hadn't been sure if he should, before, but now he _wanted_ to keep things away from him. Like hints about how things had been among their dads. Their granddads.

"Considering what?"

"... with Reid's mom, not like he can't use all the clinging."

"That's not nice."

"True, though."

"It's not what you meant to say."

"What do you care?"

Chase's big eyes went wide, hurt. "Never mind, Caleb. Not like I've learned something weird about three of my best friends and wondering just where my place in all of this is."

"Whatever."

A part of Caleb wanted to reassure Chase that he was a Son of Ipswich. There was enough bile in his mind to stop him, though. Why reassure _the_ Son of Ipswich, after all? The oldest, the first? 

The fireworks drew their attention away from each other, and the younger three joined them. After a moment, Pogue stepped between them, and Reid started talking, the way he usually did when he could tell something was wrong and was trying to avoid it exploding. By drawing the fire to himself, sharp words and near insults making people angry at _him_ , rather than each other. Caleb could imagine him doing that at home, drawing his mom's attention away from his dad. Most days, it made him ache inside. Tonight, he just got angrier. 

He bolted back home as soon as the spectacle was over. The parting line from Reid made him clench his fists, but he didn't snarl, or hit, back. Just kept walking.

*

It wasn't that Chase hadn't been feeling the tension building up, in Caleb and between the two of them. He just... didn't know how to do away with it. He was excited and scared, because this was a responsibility that hadn't brought anything _good_ to his family, for all the thrill that power gave him. Maybe he was going to manage better than his father, than the distant ancestor that led to his line splitting from the other four.

He did know that getting banished was the last thing he wanted. Caleb, Pogue, Reid, and Tyler were his family, more so than the mother who'd been more than happy to leave him with the people who'd promised he'd be well taken care of. 

They _had_ taken care of him. He had no idea what he would have known, with only his mother, but they'd set up a reasonable trust fund for him, and had taught him about what he was, about what they all were. He'd had peers who understood him and turned into amazing, very different friends, and status, for all he was parentless. Some nights he wondered what it would be like, growing up with his father. But he had only to think of Caleb's dad and realize it was likely for the better. 

Maybe he should have hated somebody because of it. 

He didn't. 

So when Pogue, Reid, and Tyler had gone home, he sat out in the warm night and thought about the fight. He was still angry, sure, but it seemed pointless to him to just stay away. Clearly Caleb was upset, and with him, and he couldn't fix that if he didn't know why.

He drove to Caleb's, if nothing else to ask Evelyn if she knew where he was. The phone was unlikely to be answered, anyway. He'd had a key for years, and he let himself in, calling quietly for his friend's mom. When there was no answer, he headed inside. Maybe she was in the further rooms, the kitchen, somewhere that she hadn't heard him. 

She _and_ Caleb were, in fact, in the smaller parlor. Talking. 

Or Evelyn was talking. Caleb was standing there, arms hanging by his sides and head bowed down, and taking it in. Chase's mouth went dry at the words she was heaping on her son. The doubt, the accusations. " _I'm not him._ That's what he said, too. Do you know what it's like, knowing this is coming to my _son_ , Caleb?"

"No, Mother."

"No. Of course you don't. Why should you? You have your _friends_ , you have power coming to you, why should you care about what I need?"

"Of course I care."

It wrenched at Chase, the quiet resignation in Caleb's voice. The way Evelyn didn't seem to have heard him. The way he took it all in without arguing, without giving back. He listened as long as he could, then stepped quietly outside. Interrupting them would just make it worse, if not tonight, later. 

They all knew Evelyn Danvers had become unsteady. Alcoholic. But she did reasonably well when others were there, in gatherings and such, and Caleb didn't talk about it, and Chase hadn't realized how bad it had gotten. 

He Used lightly, to 'fly' up to Caleb's open window, then let go of the power, too worried for the usual pull to be problematic, and slipped into his room in the 'normal' manner. They'd all done this countless time through the years, seeking out one another without having to go through the adults. Reid most of all, but then... earlier tonight, it'd made that much more sense.

Chase shook his head to clear it of that. It wasn't any of his business, anyway, and maybe if he hadn't brought it up, they wouldn't have fought.

When Caleb stepped inside, he was sitting by the window, and Caleb looked at him for a moment, then quietly closed the door.

"What."

"I wanted to apologize." He kept his voice quiet, calm. "I shouldn't have been as short-tempered tonight. It's... I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Caleb's voice sounded like he was halfway sincere. It was a start, Chase thought.

"It's just... I know something's been bothering you, okay? And I'd like to fix it, if I can."

"Fix it?" The dark eyes hardened, and Chase blinked. "What do you think you can _fix_ , Collins? What happened between your father and mine and led to this?" He waved his hand towards the door. To downstairs. Chase winced, and Caleb's eyes narrowed, generous lips pursing too hard. "Or that you showed up, well, before you had any say about it, but still did, and shattered the balance of power that had reigned for _centuries_? Well, you _can't_. You're getting your full powers in ten days, and _nobody_ knows what that'll do. You've studied as much as we have. But we can close a pentagram, now, and you're the one who gets first chance of making it happen, and _we don't know_ ," Caleb's words were sharp, separate with the emphasis, "what that means!" 

"And it should be you, not me, who gets that spot, isn't it." Chase was startled by the level of poison in his own voice, but carried on. "That's it, isn't it. You should've been first. You should've been the one in charge, so if something happens, you stop it from going bad. Well, guess what. You aren't. And I'm not going away."

He stalked to the window, dropping down to the ground without Using. He had no idea what would happen right now if he powered up, but he doubted it would be quiet. Or easy to undo. 

The quiet, "well, maybe you should," that followed him hurt.

Two days of silence between them wore on the five of them like sandpaper. 

Enough, apparently, that Reid and Pogue literally locked them in a closet together. 

"Pogue! What the _hell_ are you doing?" Caleb's voice reverberated through him, low and loud in the small place. 

"Clearly you need some time to figure yourselves out, okay? And not like I'll be able to actually do this, in a week. Better sooner."

"I'll get back to you for this!

"Not like I expect any less, Caleb. Have fun."

And then they were alone.

Chase had leaned against the wall furthest away from Caleb - who was at the door, which was, as Pogue had suggested, locked by magic. Maybe they could have broken out if they were working together. 

These days, they weren't. 

Chase was worried, almost a little scared, when Caleb rounded on him.

"This was your idea."

"It wasn't." 

The tired note to his voice made Caleb's anger-fueled momentum falter. But could he blame him? The four of them had been his family for his entire life. Caleb had been his best friend. This kind of anger? He'd not known or expected it, and it was exhausting. 

Silence stretched, coiling around them in the small space, until Caleb's shoulders sagged.

"I'm an idiot."

Chase blinked. Then... shrugged. "Maybe. Some of the things you said make sense. I'm... still not going away, though."

"I can tell."

Chase frowned. "No, I mean... if it was only about you having it easier, or things getting more predictable, possibly I could. But," he swallowed. "I don't want to become my father. I don't know what happened to him, or why, or when. But I don't know how to be what we are on my own. And I don't want to become a danger."

And he could. These last two days, he'd thought about things a lot. He'd had to stomp on the bitterness at the suggestion, at the very idea that he should leave. This was his home, not a specific house, but the town, the people. He'd known no other. And he'd done nothing wrong, either. So... it would hurt. Banished for no reason. An outcast, with the other four still happily close to each other. The anger would feed the desire to Use, he was sure. And then all bets were off. 

"And you aren't, now?" The question lacked the scathing certainty of the other night, though.

"I don't have to be, I don't think. You said that I could lead a pentagram, and, sure, I could. But I don't have to, right? I'd rather wait until we were all in this together, anyway. I mean, if only I was fully powered, you four could get hurt. And I don't want that."

The dark eyebrows lowered, but, for the first time, the tightness around Caleb's eyes eased, somewhat. "You'd wait?"

"Sure. At least I think I will. Power or not, you're my _friends_. There are no spells in dusty books that are more important than that."

Caleb's throat worked, and he rubbed his face with one hand, before looking back up at Chase. "I'm... I'm sorry. For doubting you. For blaming you."

The deep voice was sincere, and Chase could feel the worry that had been clenching his heart start to ease. Slowly. 

"You couldn't help it, man." He braved a smile. "You going to be all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

Chase wasn't sure which one moved, but then they were hugging, in the middle of a small, cramped, sweaty closet. 

And it was going to be all right.


End file.
